Tigers, Indians have favorable schedules in second half

(AP) — After the four-day all-star break it’s a 2 ˝-month sprint to the finish line, and it could be an interesting 10 weeks for the Indians and the Tigers in the Central Division race.

On paper both teams have very favorable schedules. For the Indians, 45 of their 67 games after the break are against teams that have losing records (as of the start of play Saturday). The Tigers will play 49 of their last 69 games against teams with losing records.

Following the break, both teams will resume play on Friday, July 19. For the Indians, 13 of their first 16 games after the break are against losing teams. Those 13 games are against the Twins, Mariners, White Sox and Marlins.

The Tigers’ first 10 games coming out of the break are all against teams with losing records: the Royals, White Sox and Phillies.

“We need to play better in the second half — but we can,” Francona said.

Following Sunday’s game the Indians will reconvene in Minnesota on Thursday. Starting Friday they will play the first of six consecutive road games against the Twins and Mariners.

“I want the guys to get away during the break, because that’s good,” Francona said. “The hope is they come back crisp, and that they’ve re-charged their battery, because there are no breaks after that.”

The Tigers were expected to run away with the Central Division title, and they still might. But if the Indians can hang with Detroit in the second half, it could make for a wild finish. The two teams have six games left with one another, but none after Sept. 1. They will play three games in Cleveland Aug. 6-8 and three games in Detroit on Aug. 30-Sept. 1.

This could be a huge factor: The Tigers still have 16 games left with the White Sox, who are one of the worst teams in the majors. In fact, the Tigers have 29 games left with the White Sox, Twins, Marlins and Mariners, who are all potential 100-loss teams.

The Tigers’ last 13 games of the season are all against those four teams.

The Indians’ last 10 games of the regular season are against, in order, the Astros (4), White Sox (2) and Twins (4).

The young and the restlessBryce Harper, 20, will be the second-youngest participant in All-Game Home Run Derby history, behind Ken Griffey Jr., who was 39 days younger when he competed.

“I’m looking forward to doing it this year and seeing how it goes,” Harper said. “And if I don’t hit any, it’s OK. I’m just trying to go out there and have some fun. Hopefully I hit a few so I don’t hear any boos or anything.”

The hit manIt took about half the season, but it appears Victor Martinez has regained his vintage line-drive form after he missed all of last season with knee surgery.

Martinez went into the weekend with a 13-game hitting streak, during which he was hitting .453 (24-for-53) with five doubles, one home run and seven RBIs.

“He’s a thing of beauty when he gets in a groove like he is right now,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said.

Star burstThe Orioles have four All Stars for the first time since 2005 (Miguel Tejada, Brian Roberts, Melvin Mora and BJ Ryan) and three starters for the first time since 1997 (Cal Ripken Jr., Brady Anderson and Robbie Alomar).

First baseman Chris Davis, shortstop J.J. Hardy and center fielder Adam Jones were elected by the fans as starters and third baseman Manny Machado was named as a reserve.

“I actually would prefer to talk about it because everybody is thinking in the back of their minds, ‘A guy can’t go from being this terrible to this good’,” Davis said. “But I think the biggest thing has been the consistency of contact and playing every day.”

“I think it sucks that guys in our day and age have to answer for mistakes that guys have made in the past. But it is part of it,” said Davis, who has 34 home runs in his first 93 games this season after having a career-high 33 in 2012.”

Speaking specifically of steroids Davis said, “I have never taken them. I have no reason to. I’ve always been a power hitter.”

To Davis, Major League Baseball’s true, single-season home run record was Roger Maris’ 61 in 1961, which broke Babe Ruth’s mark of 60 in 1927. Davis said he doesn’t fully count Barry Bonds’ 73 in 2001 or Mark McGwire’s 70 and Sammy Sosa’s 66 in the unforgettable 1998 home run race.

“I think when McGwire and Sosa did what they did in 1998, it was awesome to watch. And then when all the stuff came out with the PEDs and all of that, it was really disheartening,” Davis said.

“I can’t imagine what it was like to play in those days and be a guy that’s going to hit 30 or 40 home runs and all of the sudden you are a middle of the road guy because you see a bunch of guys hitting 50 and 60. I know it was probably a tough decision. I know a lot of those guys might regret what they did. But I’m not judging them as a person. I don’t think any less of them as a person. I just wish they hadn’t done it.”

Showboater?Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero said last week that Yasiel Puig’s on-field antics are grating to other players and might get him in trouble.

“If he’s my teammate, (I am) probably trying to help him not be hated in the major leagues. That’s where he’s going right now, creating a bad reputation throughout the league,” Montero said.

Comeback coachFormer Indians third base coach Jeff Datz, now filling the same role for manager Eric Wedge in Seattle, has been out since early May while he battles cancer.

Datz said he has used baseball as a major part of his therapy.

Although Datz has had to be temporarily replaced by Daren Brown in the coaching box since early May, he made sure to put on his Mariners uniform whenever possible. While the team was on homestands, Datz would take his normal turn throwing batting practice as well as hitting fungoes, maintaining some semblance of normalcy amidst the frightening disruption that cancer treatment causes.

“I tried to throw BP the whole time through radiation,” he said. “I wanted to do that to say, ‘Hey, cancer, you’re not going to beat me.’”

And now, finally, Datz can see an end in sight. Last Wednesday, he completed the rugged six-week regimen of radiation for his cancer, which was diagnosed as Level Two squamous-cell cancer on his neck.

Though the final week of radiation “kind of took a bite out of me,” Datz is eyeing a second-half return to the coaching box.

Around the horn• Miguel Cabrera is the first player in major league history with 30 home runs and 90 RBIs before the All-Star break. This is even more incredible: Through 91 games in his Triple Crown season last year, he was hitting .327, with 20 homers and 74 RBIs. Through 91 games this year: .366/30/94.

• The Twins haven’t fired a manager since Ray Miller on Sept. 12, 1986, but Ron Gardenhire is starting to feel some heat in Minnesota where the Twins have lost 11 of their last 12 games and are well on their way to their third consecutive 90-loss season.

• The Mariners player in the most demand at the trade deadline might be left-handed reliever Oliver Perez, who has dazzling numbers, a 1.75 ERA and an average of 12.5 strikeouts per nine innings. The Indians have presumably made that phone call.

• The White Sox are shopping relievers Jesse Crain (a disabled All-Star at the moment), Matt Thornton and Matt Lindstrom along with right fielder Alex Rios and possibly shortstop Alexei Ramirez or second baseman Gordon Beckham. Even Paul Konerko could be made trade-available once he is off the disabled list with his back injury.

• Rays do-everything regular Ben Zobrist has a son named Zion and a daughter named Kruse.

• Taken with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2011 draft, pitcher Danny Hultzen looked like he might make the Mariners’ roster out of spring training before suffering a minor hip injury. He’s had two shoulder injuries since and has thus made only five Class AAA starts, going 4-1 with a 2.20 ERA.

• Brewers center fielder Carlos Gomez is having a great year defensively and could become the first Brewers player to win a Gold Glove since Robin Yount in 1982.

• Cole Hamels was 2-11, with a 4.58 ERA when the Phillies decided to push his next start back two days to give him a “mental break.” Hamels hinted that he didn’t think much of the idea. In two starts since, he’s 2-0, 1.20 with one walk and 12 strikeouts in 15 innings.

• Four Pirates were selected for the NL All-Star team. That’s their largest all-star contingent since 1981.

• Yasiel Puig was only the second player since 1950 to have a .400 average after his first 130 big-league at-bats. He was at .415 after 130 at bats. The Twins’ Tony Oliva was at .400 over his first 155 at-bats.

• Did you see Manny Machado’s Brooks Robinson impression last week in which he fielded a ball while lunging into foul territory and while his momentum carried him towards the stands threw a strike to first base to retire the hitter? Orioles manager Buck Showalter still can’t believe it. “Oh my gosh,” Showalter said. “When you can shake hands with the beer man in the front row after you get through with a play, you know it’s pretty challenging.”

• Yu Darvish has became the fourth member of the Rangers’ opening day rotation to land on the DL. Matt Harrison, Alexi Ogando and Nick Tepesch are also on the DL.

• There is a good chance Lance Berkman is finished. Berkman went on the disabled list on Sunday because of inflammation in the left hip. An evening earlier, Berkman struggled to make it around the bases on a homer by Geovany Soto. Berkman has been limited by soreness in the right knee, which was operated on twice last season, and is hitting .188 since May 20.

In a 7-1 loss in 14 innings to the Braves on Monday Marlins relievers retired 24 consecutive batters from innings six through 13.

Three strikes1 There are 20 players in the major leagues who have hit more home runs than the Indians’ three starting outfielders (Michael Brantley, Michael Bourn and Drew Stubbs) have hit combined (16).

2 The Indians never seem to have sudden, unexpected good fortune smile on them. Maybe that’s about to change with Danny Salazar.

3 Two categories Carlos Santana must lead the league in: getting hit by foul balls, and jumping away from pitches that are called strikes.